# Scene VII explained — Hamlet > Chapter companion for Hamlet by William Shakespeare. ## What happens Claudius convinces Laertes that Hamlet killed Polonius and conspires with him to murder Hamlet in a rigged fencing match. Gertrude enters and announces Ophelia's drowning, sending Laertes into a grief-stricken rage. ## Themes in this chapter ### Revenge and Morality Claudius and Laertes plot a dishonorable murder, contrasting with Hamlet's earlier moral hesitation. ### Corruption and Decay The plan to use poison and the image of Ophelia's muddy death symbolize moral and physical decay. ### Mortality and the Afterlife Ophelia's drowning and the discussion of death highlight the fragility of life and the finality of death. ## Character check-ins ### King Claudius Manipulates Laertes into plotting Hamlet's death, revealing his cunning and guilt. ### Laertes Grieves for his father and sister, swears revenge, and agrees to Claudius's murder plot. ### Queen Gertrude Brings news of Ophelia's drowning, describing it in poetic detail. ### Hamlet Mentioned as having returned to Denmark and sent letters; the target of Claudius and Laertes's conspiracy. ### Ophelia Reported drowned by Gertrude; her death deepens Laertes's desire for revenge. ### Polonius Referenced as Laertes's murdered father, motivating Laertes's vengeance. ## Key lines > Too much of water hast thou, poor Ophelia, And therefore I forbid my tears: but yet It is our trick; nature her custom holds, Let shame say what it will: when these are gone, The woman will be out. You have had too much water, poor Ophelia, so I will not cry—but I cannot help it; it is human nature. When my tears are spent, my feminine weakness will be gone. _Laertes struggles to contain his grief, equating tears with femininity._ > There is a willow grows aslant a brook, That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream; There with fantastic garlands did she come Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples... A willow tree leans over a brook, its gray leaves reflected in the water. Ophelia came there with strange garlands of wildflowers and long purple blooms... _Gertrude's poetic description of Ophelia's death scene._ > I will do't: And, for that purpose, I'll anoint my sword. I bought an unction of a mountebank, So mortal that, but dip a knife in it, Where it draws blood no cataplasm so rare... can save the thing from death That is but scratch'd withal. I will do it, and I will poison my sword. I bought a deadly ointment from a quack doctor so potent that even a scratch will kill, with no cure possible. _Laertes reveals his plan to use a poisoned sword to ensure Hamlet's death._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hamlet_se/chapters/act-iv-scene-vii - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hamlet_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/hamlet_se/chapters